Chubb Has Historic Night For Georgia

It was a crowd full of red and black at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina as the Louisville Cardinals took on the Georgia Bulldogs on Tuesday night. The two teams participated in College Football’s Belk Bowl game as part of their post season and it would be the first time that they faced off against each other. Georgia came into the game as a seven point favorite, but the Louisville Cardinals were looking to upset yet another SEC team.

The Cardinals won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball to begin the game , and Kyle Bolin started the game at quarterback for the Cardinals. The Cards began their first drive on the Louisville 20 yard line and running back Brandon Radcliff got the Cards going on a 12 yard gain for a 1st down. Later in the drive Kyle Bolin got the Cardinals their 2nd 1st down on an 8 yard run, however the Cardinals drive would be cut short as they punted the football to Georgia with 11:40 to go in the 1st quarter. The Bulldogs starting quarterback Hutson Mason and the Georgia offense began their first drive at the Georgia ten yard line.

Georgia’s first drive started off with a Nick Chubb run for 29 yards to give the Bulldogs their first 1st down. Then the Cardinal’s forced the Bulldogs to a 3rd down and 10, but an illegal hands to the face on Louisville gave the Bulldogs an automatic 1st down. Shortly after that, Mason threw a 44 yard touchdown pass to Chris Conley and Marshall Morgan’s extra point made the score 7-0 Georgia, with 8:24 remaining in the 1st quarter. The Cardinals didn’t score until 4:25 remaining in the 1st quarter, as Bolin threw an 11 yard touchdown pass to Gerald Christian. The score after the 1st quarter was tied at 7-7.

In the second quarter Georgia started to takeover of the football game. With 11:33 to go in the 2nd quarter Georgia’s Morgan scored off an 41 yard field goal attempt, making the score 10-0 Bulldogs. Then for some reason Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino made a quarterback change and put Reggie Bonnafon in for Kyle Bolin. Bonnafon led the Cardinals to one 1st down in his 1st series in the game but Louisville would punt the ball back to Georgia with 8:59 left in the 1st half. Georgia’s Nick Chubb would score on a 31 yard rushing touchdown for the Bulldogs and the point after would make the score 17-7 Georgia with 6:40 remaining in the 2nd quarter.

The turning point of the football game would be when Bonnafon threw an interception to Georgia’s Dominick Sanders with 6:21 left in the 1st half. Sanders would return the ball 40 yards, which led to another field goal by Morgan, making the score 20-7 Georgia with 4:58 remaining in the 2nd quarter. Louisville’s couldn’t get anything going on offense and failed on a 4th down conversion giving the ball right back to the Bulldogs. Georgia’s Hutson Mason would sustain an injury and would be replaced by Bryce Ramsey, who threw an interception to Louisville’s Terrell Floyd with 3:28 left in the 1st half. The Score at halftime would remain 20-7 Georgia, as Georgia had 86 rushing yards on 20 carries in the 1st half.

Georgia would get the ball back to begin the 2nd half and Hutson Mason wouldn’t return to the game. Louisville’s Lorenzo Mauldin was able to force a fumble from Georgia’s Sony Michel, with 12:21 remaining in the 3rd quarter. However Louisville’s Kyle Bolin would throw an interception to Georgia’s Dominick Sanders to give Georgia the ball right back with 10:31 left in the 3rd. Georgia was unable to capitalize on the turnover from Louisville and would punt the ball back to the Cardinals. Louisville would also have another empty trip on the offensive end punting the ball to Georgia with 6:38 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

The Bulldogs Nick Chubb then made one of the of the most explosive runs in college football I have ever seen. Chubb ran the football 82 yards from the Georgia three yard line, one of the longest plays in Belk Bowl history. The run by Chubb would set up a two yard touchdown run from Georgia’s Sony Michel with 5:41 left in the 3rd quarter. Then Louisville’s star wide receiver, Devante Parker, led the Cardinals down the field with four 1st downs and 70 receiving yards. The plays from Parker would be followed by a six yard rushing touchdown from Brandon Radcliff and the extra point by John Wallace would make the score 27-14 Georgia with 1:48 remaining in the 3rd quarter.

The score would stay the same going into the 4th quarter as Georgia would have the football. The Bulldogs repeatedly ran the ball with Chubb and Brendan Douglass, but were unable to get anything going on offense. Louisville would get the ball after a failed 4th down conversion from Georgia, but Bolin would throw his 2nd interception to Georgia’s Damian Swann with 9:33 remaining in the game. Georgia would score off an 41 yard field goal by Morgan with 5:20 to go in the 4th quarter. Louisville was again unable to do anything on offense and was forced to punt the ball back to Georgia.

Georgia would force feed Nick Chubb five straight times for 45 rushing yards, including an 8 yard touchdown run to put the game out of reach for Louisville. Chubb’s touchdown with 2:02 remaining, would also be the final score in the game. The Georgia Bulldogs came out on top as Belk Bowl Champions and Nick Chubb would be the games MVP. Chubb had 33 carries for 266 yards, a record for rushing yards in a Georgia bowl game, 3rd most in Georgia history, and the most ever in by any freshman in a game. Louisville’s Devante Parker also had his 10th game with over 100 yards receiving, 3rd most in Louisville history.

“I had an awesome line up front making everything possible for me. I’m thankful for everyone around me and it’s been a great season,” said Nick Chubb after the game. The ironic thing is Chubb, a freshman, would have been the 2nd string running back to Georgia’s Todd Gurley had he been healthy. However with a running back like Nick Chubb it’s safe to say that head coach Mark Richt and the Georgia Bulldogs are in good hands moving forward.